Bomarito, Summerton Rule Atlantic Weekend
Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda doubleheader at Road America
Saturday
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — In the first race of a Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda doubleheader at the Road Race Showcase, American racer Jonathan Bomarito became the first two-time winner of the season at Road America.
Driving the No. 26 Del Taco/Stone Brewing/Discount Tire/RLM Investments machine for Mathiasen Motorsports, Bomarito took the lead in the race’s standing start and led all but one lap en route to a .411 second victory over polesitter Dane Cameron.
It was Bomarito’s fourth-career Atlantic victory and his second at Road America, where he claimed his first victory in the series in 2006.
“It feels amazing,” Bomarito said. “I love this track. There’s so much history and the racing always is amazing here. It feels great to be back up here. To be the first guy to win two races this year feels amazing. Hopefully, it’s not my last. Hopefully, we’ll keep this momentum going.”
Cameron was the only other driver to lead a lap and finished second. Tonis Kasemets charged from eighth on the grid to finish third.
Carl Skerlong and James Hinchcliffe rounded out the top five.
Sunday
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Jonathan Summerton picked up the victory in Sunday’s second round of the doubleheader for the Cooper Tires presents The Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda at Road America.
Summerton charged from ninth on the starting grid to take the lead from Saturday winner Jonathan Bomarito with two laps remaining and held off his countryman by 1.084 seconds to get the victory in the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing machine. It was Summerton’s second-career Atlantic victory and his fifth top-six performance in seven races.
“We came from the back, coming from ninth spot,” Summerton said. “We had a great start, but we were hit after the first corner, which dropped us down a few places. Then, of course, the yellows came out and I think that helped us a bit for the restarts. We gained a couple positions on each restart. Of course, at the end there, it was a very hard battle with Jonathan. We were only closing very slightly and when I got very close, I’d lose all my downforce. It was a very hard run there at the end.”
Bomarito’s victory Saturday and his second-place finish Sunday gave him a three-point lead over James Hinchcliffe in the standings.
Tonis Kasemets finished third, while Kevin Lacroix and Carl Skerlong rounded out the top five.